Pipes used in the production and transportation of chemicals are subject to corrosion and plugging. An example of such a pipe is oil pipe which is generally large and for reasons of economy is manufactured from carbon steel rather than more expensive corrosion resistant alloys. Corrosion is induced by the hot underground environment in which down-hole pipes convey oil from deeply buried deposits to the earth's surface. Materials such as water, sulfur, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, present in the oil typically make it acidic causing corrosion of the interior surface of the pipe. Even at cooler temperatures, transportation pipelines that extend for long distances close to the earth's surface experience the effects of corrosion because of the long contact times involved. Corroded pipes are difficult and expensive to replace.
Plugging occurs when organic materials soluble in the oil at high temperatures of the oil deposit become insoluble as the oil cools during the rise through a pipe to the earth's surface. The resultant insoluble materials, such as asphaltenes and paraffin waxes, tend to plate out on the interior surface of the pipe, restricting the oil flow and eventually plugging the pipe. An additional problem arises from soluble inorganic material, commonly referred to as scale and generally comprising calcite and/or barite, present in the oil or in the salt water associated with the conveying of oil from underground deposits. Plugging also occurs during long distance conveying of the oil through pipelines. Plugging requires that production or transportation cease while the pipe is cleaned out either by mechanical scraping (pigging), chemical treatment or hot oiling. Such cleaning reduces productivity and involves large maintenance costs.
Similar problems occur for oil storage vessels and pipes and storage vessels used in the manufacture and transportation of corrosive chemicals in the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI). There remains a need for solving the problems of corrosion and plugging that occurs in pipes conveying chemicals, especially oil pipes whether used in oil wells or for oil conveying. What would be desirable is a pipe or vessel with an interior surface which resists the deposit of insoluble organic materials and inorganic materials and has resistance to the corrosive effects of acids. Further there is a desire that the interior surface be durable lasting for many years in harsh environments.